Only Han Kang's fictional works outsold Keigo Higashino's in Korea over the past decade, according to Kyobo
Kyobo Book Centre also credited the Japanese mystery writer, who recently died, for increasing Korean readership in the genre.
Books by Keigo Higashino are displayed at the Gwanghwamun branch of Kyobo Book Centre in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 28. Works by the Japanese mystery writer, who died on July 23, were widely read in Korea. His novels include “The Devotion of Suspect X” (2005) and “The Miracles of the Namiya General Store” (2012).
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Only Han Kang’s fictional works outsold those of Keigo Higashino, the Japanese mystery writer who died last Thursday, over the past decade, Kyobo Book Centre said on Wednesday.
The data was based on fiction sales made through Kyobo, the largest bookstore chain in Korea, between July 27, 2016, and Sunday. Han, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2024, sold the highest number of fiction books during the period, followed by the late Higashino by a “narrow margin,” Kyobo said.
Hermann Hesse was No. 3 due to sales for “Demian” (1919), Haruki Murakami No. 4 for “Norwegian Wood” (1987) and Kim Ho-yeon No. 5 for “The Second Chance Convenience Store” (2021).
Higashino’s biggest seller at Kyobo over the 10 years was “The Miracles of the Namiya General Store” (2012), followed by “The Masked Mountain Villa Murder Case” (1990, translated), “The Fabricated Criminal” (2024, translated), “You Killed Someone” (2023, translated) and “The Devotion of Suspect X” (2005).
Kyobo also named his “Laplace’s Witch” (2015), “The Keeper of the Camphor Tree” (2020), “A Death in Tokyo” (2011), “Love Gondola” (2016, translated) and “In an Isolated Cottage on a Snowy Mountain” (1992, translated) as titles that have sold steadily for years.
Readers in their 30s comprised the largest share of Higashino’s buyers at 30 percent. Those in their 40s accounted for 26.3 percent, those in their 50s for 23 percent and those in their 20s for 12.8 percent. Readers aged 60 and over comprised 7.4 percent, and those under 20 accounted for 0.5 percent.
Women made up 59.7 percent of his buyers.
Kyobo credited the writer’s following for increasing Korean readership in the mystery genre.
“Higashino is a leading foreign author who drove the popularization of mystery fiction among Korean readers,” the chain said when he died. “Alongside the readers who have loved his work for many years, we express our deep condolences.”
Kodansha, Higashino’s Japanese publisher, announced on Monday that he had died of colorectal cancer. He was 68.
BY YOON SUNG-MIN [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
